Good Hair Day
by Misty Day
Summary: High school AU. Pickles and Toki do each other's hair after school. Meanwhile, Nathan and Skwisgaar have detention.


Written by request for Tumblr user wargelf ( user 4pollos.) She is one of my favorite people :) Special thanks to youtube user Silvija Vil for her informative videos about dreadlocks! They were very helpful while I was writing this.

"Dude, I can't wait until the bell rings," Pickles whispered. Toki stopped writing and looked over at him. Both guys had been looking forward to this day all week. Thursday was Toki's favorite day. Pickles had a brilliant idea the summer between their junior and senior years of high school: convince Toki's parents that he had study hall on Thursdays and hang out after school. Pickles wanted to say that he perpetuated the lie for mutual reasons but the truth was a bit more selfish. He wanted Toki to help him with his hair.

The last day of the previous school year Pickles had made up his mind about something. He remembered exactly how he had explained it to his Norwegian friend at a "last day of school" party.

"I wanna do somethin' different," Pickles began, taking a drink mid-sentence. "with my hair."

Toki sat down his beer, intrigued. "Reallys?"

"Yeah, man. I already talked to Nathan about it, he said it's cool."

It still surprised the brunette that his friend had to go through his boyfriend before making a physical change but at the same time he understood. Toki knew he would be disappointed with Skwisgaar if he changed his beautiful blonde hair without saying anything. The Swede had also expressed privately (and somewhat cryptically) to him that he liked Toki's hair since he'd grown it out. It was past Toki's shoulders now.

Pickles had done a lot of research on the internet over the summer. Toki's family had gone back to Norway for two months, effectively halting Pickles's transformation. All the same it had given him the opportunity to really study how he wanted to go about changing his hair and exactly how he was going to do it. When Toki came back Pickles showed him the best video he had found on the subject. The boys had watched the girl on the screen explaining how to do it.

"Dis goil knows exactlys what she ams talkings about," Toki said afterward.

Pickles nodded. "Let's do this."

That was how it all started. A little too much to drink combined with the high of being the last day of summer break made it even more exhilarating. They shoplifted what they needed at the store and by the end of the night Pickles had the beginnings of dreadlocks. The redhead's parents hadn't exactly been thrilled and his brother taunted him constantly but he didn't care. He loved it. Toki had enjoyed helping, even though it was very time-consuming. Something about it made him feel productive and alive, almost as good as playing guitar.

"Study Hall" had been Pickles best idea ever. It gave them the chance to hang out, talk, copy each others homework and talk about their boyfriends for two hours each week. Making the dreadlocks had been the hard part. Thursdays were now used in repairing them and making sure the loose strands were weaved back into the 'locks.

Perhaps just as much fun was the walk home from school. After the bell rang, the boys hastily packed their notebooks away and walked to the exit of the school. Sometimes Nathan and Skwisgaar joined them but not often. Nathan had football practice and Skwisgaar liked to go home and practice playing guitar. Today however was a special exception.

"What ams dey in troubles for dis times?" Toki asked Pickles as they left the bustling activity of the high school.

"They have detention for trying to steal from the biology lab," Pickles explained, stopping to take off his hoodie and put it in his backpack.

"What was dey tryings to steal?" Toki asked, more surprised that they got caught than the fact that they were stealing.

"Dissection knives, er whatever you call 'em. Scalpels," Pickles explained, seeming to share in their shame of being caught. "Sucks, man."

Toki and Pickles had the same math class for sixth period. Nathan and Skwisgaar had the same biology class and were lab partners. While the brunette and the redhead where generally not in trouble the same could not be said for their other halves. Skwisgaar rarely did his homework. Nathan was always in fights with the other students.

It was about a mile from school to Pickles's house. It was a sunny late-summer day and a generally good feeling was in the air. It had been a good day at school. The walk was invigorating. They slowed their paced once they got to the redhead's street.

"I'm hungry," Pickles announced. Toki agreed. "Good thing we have some lasagna left over from dinner last night. Unless Seth got the munchies and ate it all…wouldn't surprise me."

Toki frowned. He hoped that wasn't the case. Much to their surprise, half a pan was still left and the boys each heated up a piece and dug in. Rather than talking during their meal they each traded pieces of paper and copied one another's homework. They both had an actual study hall period during the day and did the majority of their homework then. Having a few of the same classes worked well for them.

"I wish Skwisgaar would just copies my homeworks so he coulds pass his classes," Toki said and he finished his last bite. He took a drink of his Coke, which had been untouched until this point. "I used to does it for him but he gots in trouble, they noticed it wasn'ts his handwritings."

"I still let Nathan copy mine. His grades are the only thing keeping him on the football team," Pickles responded, also finishing the last of the lasagna and helping himself to another small piece. "That and he's a lot stronger than he used to be. He can bench press almost three hundred pounds now."

"Wowee!" Toki exclaimed. "Good things you helpsed him builds dat shed for all of his weights. It ams payings off."

"Yeah, he really likes it," Pickles as he took the plate out of the microwave. "I like to watch him work out. He never talks to me or anything, just looks really focused and…"

Toki looked up from copying Pickles's chemistry notes. "And what?"

"And…kinda hot."

Toki wanted to hide his smile but couldn't. Anytime Pickles talked about something that caused him to show the slightest bit of emotion it made Toki happy. Pickles had been in bad shape before Nathan asked him out. The redhead drank everyday and had resorted to stealing to pay for drugs before Seth started selling them and it has only gotten worse after that. Nothing Toki said convinced him to stop. Only Nathan quietly muttering that he didn't want Pickles to hurt himself had caused him to stop overnight.

"I likes Skwisgaar just the way he ams," Toki chimed in. "He looks…likes a gods."

Both Pickles and Toki realized they had said more than they had intended, simultaneously trying to hide their flushed faces behind their hair. In doing so, Pickles noticed all the loose strands that were sticking out of his dreadlocks.

"You uh, about done copying that?" Pickles said, pointing to the paper.

"Almosts," Toki answered from behind his curtain of hair. He put his pen down and handed the paper to his friend, Pickles tucking it safely inside a folder and into his backpack once more. Toki finished his drink and stood.

"Readys!" he shouted in the empty house and made a mad dash for the bathroom.

Pickles breathed a sigh of relief. His little bit of TMI hadn't weirded out Toki, even though he was sure that Toki knew how much Pickles liked Nathan. Thoughts flashed through the drummer's mind of the last few times he and Nathan had hung out. Things had progressed pretty far since the days of kissing and hand-holding. As much as he wanted to tell Toki he didn't. Nathan was a very private guy. Not that Toki would say anything to Nathan but Pickles still preferred to keep things about his relationship quiet.

Toki waited in the bathroom for Pickles. Pickles's parents had more money than his family did, which made going there a real treat. Toki insisted on doing their hair in the bathroom. The door had a lock and the lighting was good; but neither of those were his main reason. There was a whirlpool bathtub with a step in the front and a small ledge on the side where shampoo and soap were normally placed. Toki liked to move everything and sit on the ledge and let Pickles sit on the step. Toki could then sit on either side of him and they could talk as he worked.

Eventually his friend joined him in the bathroom and handed him the crochet needle, settling on the step. Toki playfully ran a hand through Pickles's hair. He liked his friend's dreadlocks. It wasn't a hairstyle that Toki could pull off and he knew it but that didn't stop him from enjoying the look of it. He carefully picked up the first 'lock, examined it and began weaving the loose hairs in and out.

"So Nathan has been talking about getting an apartment together after we graduate," Pickles casually mentioned as Toki worked.

"Reallys?"

"Yeah, he said it made sense ya know, that we could hang out all the time and not have to worry about our parents buggin' us. I think it would be pretty cool."

"Yeah, dat would probablies be cool," Toki agreed. "Could I still comes over and does your hair?"

"Sure, and maybe you and Skwisgaar could come over and watch movies with us," Pickles suggested. "Nathan only likes scary movies but I'll get him to make an exception for you."

"I'll brings de popcorn!"

Toki noticed that Pickles seemed happy when he talked about moving in with Nathan. They spoke for a long time about what kind of apartment he wanted, what part of town he wanted to live in, what kind of furniture he wanted, all things that people facing cohabitation thought about. Pickles had an answer for everything.

"I wish I could gets an apartments," Toki admitted. "I hates livings with my families."

"Yeah, I would too if my parents never talked to me. Maybe you and Skwisgaar could get a place together."

Toki's smile broadened as he thought about sharing a place with his boyfriend. He imagined what it would be like to be cleaning while hearing Skwisgaar playing guitar in the background. It would also enable them to hold hands and kiss without scrutiny. He was only snapped out of his thoughts by Pickles making a statement.

"Man, that math test today was brutal."

They talked idly about school for the next hour as Toki slowly but surely finished repairing the dreads. They still had time left to work on Toki's highlights before Pickles's parents got home from work. Toki didn't consider highlights to be a major change and was even confident that his boyfriend hadn't even noticed that they were unnatural. The Norwegian retrieved the hair color box from his backpack, scanning the box on the way to the bathroom to make sure it was the right color. It was: Mocha Surprise.

Pickles carefully applied the color while they discussed music. The subject always helped Pickles focus. Toki asked him which drummer he thought was better out of Carmine and Vinny Appice, which the redhead gladly discussed until it was time to wash out the hair color. Toki washed his hair in the sink the two retreated to Pickles's room where Toki sat with a towel around his shoulders. A short time later he combed his hair out, smiling as he looked at the results.

"You can keep that brush, I don't need it anymore."

"Thanks, Pickle," Toki said, pulling what red hair remained out of the brush and tossing it in the trash. He pocketed the brush.

Toki sat in a chair next to Pickles as he typed away on his computer. He was watching drum videos. Toki watched too until he heard Pickles's dad come in the front door. He was home from work and that meant Toki needed to be leaving. Calvin always gave Toki a ride home, figuring that two hours was plenty of time for them to study and get their homework done. The brunette was glad that Calvin never asked why his hair was seemingly always wet when he got home.

'

"Detention was brutal," Nathan groaned as he and Skwisgaar exited the school. "I thought my brain was going to catch fire and kill me. Still, that would have been better than sitting there for two hours."

"Ja, it was terribles," the Swede replied. "I guess I coulds have dones my homesworks but homesworks ams dildos. I'll just get Toki to does it for me later. He ams betters at de English anyway."

Nathan shrugged. That was totally not true but he didn't want to talk about school anymore.

"Let's get some booze," Nathan said, more of a command than a suggestion. They had perfected the art of stealing it from one of the locally owned stores.

Fifteen minutes and a stolen six pack later, Nathan and Skwisgaar walked down Nathan's street, sipping their beers in broad daylight. No one noticed and if they did they didn't care. They tossed the bottles into ditches as they finished them. As a crowning gesture, Nathan slammed the bottle for his third and final beer on the ground after chugging it. It shattered loudly.

"So what do you think, uh, Pickles and Toki are doing?" Nathan asked, the alcohol bringing his mood to a better place.

"Probablies redoesing Toki's highlights that he thinks I amn'st knowings about," the blonde replied flippantly. "Does you think it ams weird that they ams always doings each others hairs?"

Nathan paused before answering. He really did like Pickles's hair. Still, he didn't want his friend to think he was lame and answered, "Yeah, a little."

"We ams far too brutals to does somethings like that."

"Right."

Nathan definitely did not want to admit that Pickles had given his hair a hot oil treatment the last time he had spent the night. Just as his boyfriend had promised, it had made his hair a lot easier to comb and, as Pickles had worded it, "shinier." Nathan had also noticed that Skwisgaar's hair looked less wavy lately, a sure sign of Toki using his hair straightener on him. They stopped in front of Nathan's driveway.

"I guess I'll uh, see you tomorrow then," Nathan said.

"Ja," Skwisgaar replied and started the walk to his house.

Nathan went straight to his room and locked his door. He stared at the photo of him and Pickles that was taped to his mirror and managed a half smile. Just as automatic and absent-minded as breathing, Nathan picked up his brush and began running it through his long, black hair.


End file.
